" Congratulations to the 15 winners of the France Tourisme Tech programme, who will receive tailor-made support to help them develop, structure their business and export their products. "Olivia Grégoire, the French Minister for SMEs and Tourism, has unveiled the first class of start-ups supported by the government in order to give them a competitive edge. a new boost for tourism tech. Presented at Station F on 24 October, this initiative is designed to encourage the development of all these technologies, which will improve the traveller experience, mobility and the discovery of destinations.
Among the 15 start-ups selected The 150 applications received by the Directorate General for Enterprise and a panel of experts (see box) included Nannybag and its luggage lockers, Alltheway and its solution for checking suitcases into Accor hotels before a flight, and Greengo, which specialises in booking eco-responsible accommodation. " New technologies have a crucial role to play in raising the quality of France's tourism offering".Olivia Grégoire prefaces her presentation of this programme, which is part of the "Destination France" plan to win back and transform tourism.
With less than 300 days to go until the opening of the next Olympic Games, this global event will be an opportunity to show the world the " France's champions of tourism tech" in line with the tourist weight of a country which, apart from Blablacar and Virtuo, has few unicorns involved in this sector.
The launch of this programme was prompted by a number of factors, including a slowdown in business start-ups The travel tech sector only accounts for 3.% of French start-ups, with just over 530 start-ups in total, and fundraising levels are three times lower than average.
Following a call for expressions of interest launched in July, this programme, steered by the Directorate General for Enterprise (DGE), is now getting down to the nitty-gritty. The 15 selected will now benefit from support system "France Tourisme Tech" for one year. " As part of the "France Tourisme Tech" network, tourism start-ups, major groups in the sector and investors will be working hand in hand. The objectives are numerous: to develop co-innovation and to help future French champions to emerge." said the Minister for Tourism.
A number of partners in the programme will cover this first intake for a year, including public bodies such as Atout France, Business France and bpifrance, as well as big names in tourism such as Accor, ADP, Air France, B&B Hotels, Belambra and Pierre & Vacances. Facilitated relationships, synergies, funding, experience-sharing: the "France Tourisme Tech" network has a shared vision of working together to create the tourism of tomorrow. This is the first step towards a structured ecosystem, before 15 other start-ups join next year.
